This is a photo session I did with my sister Amanda and her hubby Björn. The photos have been used for promotion of Independent Kostym who has the largest collection of costumes for professionals in Scandinavia.

The photo of my sister is now featuring on the cover of the latest issue of the Swedish Union Magazine for “Performing Arts and Film” (Teaterförbundet för scen och film) among other photos and projects we have done together and including a big interview with her. You can read how she and her colleagues work in a fabulous place that have dressed the Scandinavian Film and Theatre Industry since the 1930’s. How Independent kostym offers both rental and manufacturing of the costumes for film production, television, theatre and corporate events. With over 1,600 square meters in Stockholm. The staff has experience and knowledge on costume history and costume design and they are experts on realizing the ideas and visions brought upon them for all kinds of productions. Amanda tells you more about her work as a costumiere and life at Independent Kostym. It is in swedish folk… Thank God for Google Translate :D

I had very little time to be innovative for this photo session. But I wanted to get an Avant-garde fashion feeling to it. With the make up being a central part of the look. The photos are taken on the 9th gathering of “Smålandsträffen”. Visiting our friends Jörgen & Boel Lundh.

The devastating stock market crash in 1929 was severe and the great depression which followed persisted throughout major parts of 1930’s and affected all western industrialized countries. Widespread unemployment, near halts in industrial production a huge percent of decline in stock prices. But strangely enough the economic crisis did not stop people from going to the movies to see the big stars. Maybe this was a way to flee the depression for a few hours. This decennium has nostalgically been stamped as “The Golden Age of Hollywood”. With popular genres like gangster, western and social realism films. Stars such as Ingrid Bergman, Zarah Leander, Ginger Rogers, Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich are the contemporary style icons. The film’s significance for beauty care was ravishing and grand. However a lot of beauty expertise emigrated from Paris to Hollywood and the fascism advent and mass unemployment were reflected in fashion and colors. The cosmetic industry flourishes. The “Snow White” pale skin lost status and tanned did not anymore mean that you where a “country girl” or had to work outdoors, it now meant that you had affordable times spent on the beach and in nature. 1930’s look was healthy! This is a collaboration I did with Tifa Högberg from the magazine “Min Boudoir”, my sister Amanda Martinez from Independent Kostym and the beautiful model Angela Eldh.

Amanda is a very talented stylist which I have done a numerous of projects with. Here she explains about the fashion, styling and couture:

“In costume history I have a number of favorite eras but the 30’s is absolutely one of my dearest. I am simply crazy about the Glamour years and what follows here is just a brief on some of all the wonderful things that went on in fashion. Creators adapted to the crisis in various ways, for instance by using the cheaper and improved easy-care materials that were now at hand. Despite the harsh economy, 30’s fashion is actually characterized by glamor and elegance – largely inspired by luxury and flair that swept in from Hollywood through the big screen.

The 20’s boyish look stepped out of the picture and women’s silhouette now returned to a more feminine shape, still slim but with bust and waist back in their right place. The ideal figure was tall and slender and by using pliable fabrics, adding frills and applying draping and bias cutting techniques designers obtained the wavy, smooth and figure-embracing lines pursued. Skirts reached down to mid calf, were often tightened over the hips and flared at bottom”. //Amanda Martinez

Some 1930’s characteristics: Butterfly arms, the tie detail in the neckline and the asymmetrical
closure of the blouse. The wide flapping pants and of course the hat – nice and elegantly tilted.

Halter necks and backless garments were highly in fashion, especially in evening wear. For our session I chose a shimmering gown that exposes the models pearl string adorned back, another classic and simply enchanting detail often that was often seen in this decade.

Some brief information on the make up fashion:

Eyes of the 1930s were defined, but much more modestly than the previous decade. Apply eyeliner in black or brown to your upper lid and a very fine line along the edge of your bottom lid. Don’t go all the way around the eye. The typical eyebrow look of the 1930s were thin, arched brows, well-defined, extending toward the temple. If you don’t wish to change your brow shape, you must at least make sure that they are well-kept and cleanly plucked. Brush them gently into place with a brow brush, if you have one. You may also dress them with petroleum jelly or olive oil for a shiny effect. If your brows are pale, darken them with a pencil.

For a glossy daytime look, you can apply a very small amount of petroleum jelly or olive oil to the eyelids (to match your shiny eyebrows). For a more alluring evening look, I like a light, shimmery shadow paired with a dark gray or brown eyeshadow. However, there were many shades of shadows in the ’30s, ranging from green, blue, violet, orchid, and brown. Eyeshadow was applied from the top eyelid up toward the eyebrow.

The 1920s fashion is my favorite era in so many ways. I love the beautiful materials like; feathers, lace and pearls and the whole assertive attitude that came with the young women of the time. Fashion was celebrating youth after some dark years during the first world war. The attitude to make-up also made a dramatic and revolutionary change. Before this, it just wasn’t “proper” for girls to wear make up. Sales from make up multiplied in Paris, London and the U.S.A and reached ladies from all societies. Harmful chemicals like lead and mercury were removed. Leading innovators were Max Factor, Maybelline, Elisabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein.

Savage Beauty, Independent Kostym and Min Boudoir Magazine did a collaboration that covered the look of the 1920’s until the 1950’s. It was published a few months back in “Min Boudoir # 5”. If you are interested in the retro, burlesque, vintage fashion and lifestyle of this era, this is a good magazine to pick up. I did all the make up and shot all the photos for this project. My sister Amanda Martinez was in charge of the costume styling to get the perfect and accurate look of the decade. Here is the english and un-edited version, showing more pictures from our project. Next week we will cover the 1930’s!/// Tallee Savage

The 20’s was a dynamic decade and in fashion trends we find a range of contemporary currents and expressions reflected; everything from jazz and Art Deco to archaeological finds in the Orient and above all – social change. Particularly women’s fashion underwent drastic changes as garments were now designed to allow their bodies to move freely, drive vehicles, play sports or dance the night away. The ideal figure turned straight, with no emphasis on either bust, waist or hips and the extreme figure shaping corsets were finally abandoned. Skirts exposed more of the legs than ever before – for a short period even the knee caps!
The 20’s was also a decade of both economic expansion and great social inequalities. While diverse classes were now embracing the same fashion, clothing materials and exclusivity still differed and thus made the wearer’s economic status distinguishable.///Amanda Martinez

The daywear outfit is an elegant but casual 2-piece made of sheer, graphically patterned and embroidered fabric. Bell shaped caps pretty much dominated hat fashion throughout the decade.

Ready to enter the night club in a see-through dress with extensive sequins embroidery, rows of pearls, silk covered legs and tilting plumes giving the whole appearance a cinematic shimmer!

1920’s Make Up:

Face: Pale base and cream or ivory powder to the skin. The model was to look like a porcelain doll. In the middle of the 20’s the skin tone reverted to a more natural face color.

Eyes: A dark and dramatic look, with black smeared eyeliner liberally and heavily applied, topped with dark grey, green or turquoise eyeshadow to get the “smokey eyes” look. Emphasis lay in the middle of the eye to get a perfect round shape. White or off-white eyeliner inside the eye to enlarge optimally. Lots and lots of mascara! In those days mascara came in a block form and needed to be heated up and applied with a stick or wand. False eyelashes were popular!

Eyebrows: In the beginning of the 20th century eyebrow were “normal plucked”, to eventually thin-out considerably and had a high round shape with a bevel finish. Inked with black or brown eyeliner and sometimes downward sloping.

Rouge: Apply to cheeks in a circle! Rose colors at first but around 1925 orange colors were more popular.

Lips: Deep red, burgundy, plum, raspberry or dark orange tones depending what year of the 1920’s. To get a “bee-bitten” lip-look you need to apply the lipstick like a “cupid bow” exaggerated on both upper and lower part of the lips, but stops quite dramatically before reaching the corners of your mouth. Light colors on the mouth was less flattering in the 20’s.

Gustav Vasa, Reformation in Sweden, the Church of England gets separated from the Pope and the Catholic Church, The Portuguese arrived as first Europeans to Japan, Ivan IV (The Terrible) becomes Tsar of Russia, Queen Elizabeth I accesses the throne of England, English-Spanish war was fought, Nostradamus publishes his prophecies, William Shakespeare writes “Romeo & Juliet, Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa, Michelangelo works on the paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, The Castle of Gripsholm in Sweden is completed, Christopher Columbus dies, Magellan sets out on history’s first leagues round the world, war, plague and witch-hunts. There are plenty of miseries and exciting stories to read about from the sixteenth Century (1500s).

But what about fashion? What did it look like over that century? Renaissance fashion ranging from the 1300s to the late 1500’s varies quite a lot depending on what year and what country it is. The Italians and the Germans were leading in fashion during the first half of the 1500s and the Spaniards during the last half of the century. The easiest way is perhaps to say “Tudor / Elizabethan era” in which the Spanish & French fashion still makes it self most characteristically in these pictures. With round rigid collar, cart-wheel ruffs, wide arms and multi-layered skirt to show her virtue.

During the Renaissance it became very fashionable to dye ones hair auburn and fair skin to show that they did not work or spend time outdoors. Cosmetics was also very popular among the wealthy. Elisabeth I wore Ceruse, a smooth white powder made from lead (causing lead poisoning). Vermillion was used as rouge on cheeks and lips.

The model for this project was obvious to me. Not because she has all the model attributes that you can wish for. But because of her charisma. I was looking for attitude and “eyes” for this shoot. The fact that Louise does not like to smile in pictures came very handy on this session. Thank you Louise, this came out exactly as I imagined and planned it!

Special thanks to my sister and Independent Kostym in Stockholm for the professional costume styling and props. The pictures here are taken against a grey background with a beauty dish and two strip lights as illumination. Last but not least, thanks to Mattias for the perfectly fitting graphic work on Queen Louisabeth.

I use to watch Zorro on TV in the 70’s. This was in Chile and the U.S.A. I don’t recall seeing it here in Sweden actually, do you? The fictional character is created by writer Johnston McCulley back in 1919 and the movie’s story is set in the Spanish colonial era of California. I remember that I used to think “Don Diego de la Vega”, which was Zorro’s secret identity, was very handsome. I am trying to remember what actor it was that I liked… I think it was Guy Williams actually. He did the role of Zorro between 1957-1961. “The Mask of Zorro” from 1998 with Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones is also a well-written and a beautiful movie.

Anyway, my sister Amanda is responsible for the styling. The clothes are from the best costume place in the world; Independent Kostym. Photographer Frank Hansen took the photos of us. We would also like to thank photographer Jan Monsen for assisting in the studio. I can tell you we had so much laughter doing this shoot.

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Who is Tallee Savage?

I will give you an insight into my life as a photographer, makeup artist, projects, journeys across the world, music, concerts, rockstars, models, animals, health, fitness, bellydance, vegetarianisms, politics, family, children…My life for anyone that is interested. Comments are appreciated!

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